Vehicle Sensor Feedback for Real-Time Road Defect Reporting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Roads often suffer from defects such as potholes and obstacles, which can cause damage to vehicles and hinder safe driving, and existing methods lack efficient systems for timely detection and notification to repair crews and navigation systems.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a computing device equipped with sensors in vehicles that connect to the on-board diagnostic port, transmitting data to a server for analysis, which identifies road conditions and generates instructions for repair or avoidance, and communicates with other devices to notify relevant entities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If road defects are detected using existing methods, then road conditions can be identified, but timely notification to repair crews and navigation systems is not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where sensor data from vehicles is continuously collected, analyzed, and used to generate real-time notifications. When road defects are detected through accelerometer and GPS data analysis, the system immediately feeds this information back to repair crews and navigation systems, ensuring timely response and continuous improvement of road maintenance operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary analysis of sensor data to predict potential road defects before they become severe hazards. By analyzing patterns in accelerometer readings and vehicle motion data, the system can identify emerging road issues and notify repair crews in advance, allowing preventive maintenance actions to be taken before defects cause vehicle damage or safety incidents.
2Measurement precision
If a comprehensive system with sensors and data analysis is implemented, then road defect detection accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses multi-functional sensors already present in modern vehicles, such as accelerometers and GPS receivers, which serve both navigation purposes and road defect detection. By leveraging existing vehicle systems for dual purposes, the patent achieves comprehensive road condition monitoring without adding dedicated complex detection hardware to each vehicle.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a centralized server as an intermediary that handles the complex data analysis, pattern recognition, and defect classification tasks. Instead of requiring complex processing in each vehicle, the server aggregates data from multiple vehicles, performs sophisticated analysis, and returns simplified results, thereby distributing system complexity to where it can be most efficiently managed.
3Area of stationary object
If real-time data collection from multiple vehicles is performed, then road condition coverage is improved, but data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the data processing task by dividing the analysis workload between individual vehicles and the centralized server. Each vehicle performs preliminary data collection and basic filtering, then transmits only relevant segments of data to the server for comprehensive analysis. This segmentation allows wide road coverage through multiple vehicles while distributing processing energy consumption across the network rather than concentrating it in one location.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for implementing a road condition reporter are disclosed. In one aspect, a method includes the actions of receiving, from a computing device, data that reflects characteristics of a vehicle. The actions further include, based on the data that reflects the characteristics of the vehicle, determining a characteristic of a road traveled by the vehicle. The actions further include, based on the characteristic of the road traveled by the vehicle, generating an instruction to perform an action. The actions further include providing, for output, the instruction to perform the action.